| Abstract: | This article uses census tract data to examine recent trends in residential segregation by race. We find that the growing tendency toward more segregated living patterns, which characterized most of the postwar period, has been reversed. The redistribution of the white population toward more integrated neighborhoods gathered steam in the 1970s and a significant proportion of the black population shifted away from established ghetto areas. As a result, residential segregation by race was lower in 1980 than it was in 1970. Furthermore, it was lower in 1980 than it was in 1960 for the nation as a whole and for each of the census regions. But despite this progress, the majority of housing markets remain highly segregated today. |
